MING - THE GOLDEN EMPIRE

MING - THE GOLDEN EMPIRE

June 27 - October 19, 2014

National Museum of Scotland - EDIMBURGH - GB

Discover the extraordinary story of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), a period of China's history marked by economic strength and a dramatic flourishing of the arts.
Meaning brilliant or bright, the Ming era represents the starting point of modern China. A collection of original artifacts from the Nanjing Museum, including Chinese National Treasures, introduces key aspects of the Ming dynasty, focusing on the remarkable cultural, and economic achievements of the period. This will be the only UK showing of this internationally significant exhibition.

About the exhibition
Exquisite luxury items and rare objects reveal the wealth and opulence of the Ming imperial court. These include the iconic blue and white porcelain with which the Ming period is synonymous, as well as sumptuous silk textiles, gold and jades, and rare examples of elaborately enamelled cloisonné.
A richly colored painting from the early Ming presents the symbolic grandeur and geometrical order of Beijing's newly-built Forbidden City. It was the imperial seat for the emperors and their households for the following five centuries, and was the world's largest palace complex.
Artworks by leading painters reveal the preoccupations of the Ming society's cultural elite, from shortans to dreams of escape from official life. A collection of life-size portraits show the faces of the Ming elite educated - men who were at the top of the late Ming social order.
The Ming was also a period of social transformation, resulting in a thriving consumer culture. Many forms of visual art and handicraft flourished. Beautiful furniture, musical instruments, Buddhist artifacts and items of personal adornment bring to life the elegant tastes and concerns of this gilded age. The study of the prosperous economy and its effects on the social order and cultural systems of the 16th and 17th centuries, the exhibition on Chinese culture.